A blog chronicling my departure from urban life on the east coast to sheep farm and cheese making life on the west coast. Still recounting the meals I have eaten in my new setting, but with more sheep thrown into the mix.

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Puppy, Conch Salad and Rum on Superbowl Sunday

Since we had only rented the car for two days, to get to Daddy Joe's for the Superbowl meant we'd have to walk about two miles. Something we were quite capable of doing, though we ran into one small problem. And that small problem was a puppy named Toby. See, as we were walking to the Queen's Highway (really the only major road of the island) we saw a little puppy standing at the end of a driveway. I foolishly called him over, which resulted in much petting, cooing and drooling. The drawback, however, was that once we were done saying hello to Toby he wasn't quite ready to say goodbye and continued to follow us as we tried to walk away. The fear was that he'd follow us to the highway and then get hit. We tried a few things to dissuade him, such as ignoring him, talking in low masculine tones, telling him to go home and then finally walking all the way back to his house and knocking on a door so someone could hold him while we continued on our way. It was this last attempt that ultimately succeeded. Then we were off. But shortly after beginning our walk, we met Wallace - the man everyone and their mother seems to know on the island of Eleuthera. Wallace drives a taxi and has a fleet of cars that he rents to visitors to the island. He stopped and asked us if we wanted a lift, but I was hesitant because cab rides on a small island where gas is $5 a gallon are expensive, and I knew we could easily walk the distance. But this, he countered, would just be a ride, no money necessary. And so we made friends with Wallace as he drove us to the place.Once there we enjoyed Kalik beers and talking with the bartender and locals at the bar (we came way earlier than when the game was going to start). This was my only conch salad of the trip, and had I known how much I was going to like it, I would have been ordering it up left and right. Citrusy, spicy, refreshing, marvelous.We befriended the bunch of expats all enjoying the living room feel of Daddy Joe's. I was rooting for whatever team had the ball, so I was happy with the outcome of the game. Afterwards Wallace (who watched the game as well) drove us and our next door neighbors back to our digs. We then enjoyed rum and pineapple soda drinks. The shell looked on.